Anyone who meets 32-year-old Vadim Lovv would be shocked to discover his traumatic past. Lovv, a happily married university student spends his free time organizing food drives and advocating for Emunah Israel, the organization which served as his lifeline during his darkest hours.

“I had a very violent and traumatic childhood,” explained Lovv.Although Lovv does not have many memories of his parents, the knowledge that his father murdered his mother remains at the forefront of his consciousness. After the authorities removed him from his home, Lovv spent time with various relatives and in numerous foster homes and orphanages. At 13, he was relocated to Emunah Israel’s Sarah Herzog Children’s Center, which turned his life around.

The Hebrew word emunah does, afterall, mean faith or belief, said Shlomo Kessel, director of World Emunah, the international arm of Emunah Israel.

Kessel said he has no shortage of stories “equally as heartbreaking as Vadim’s.” However, Kessel told Breaking Israel News that rather than focusing on the tragic pasts of the organization’s service recipients, his team instead focuses on the future of their children who fill their daycare centers, children’s homes and youth villages.Established in 1935, Emunah Israel was founded to provide support for Israel’s most vulnerable. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Emunah Israel focused its efforts on providing care and education for new immigrants with an emphasis on supplying housing and social services for young children.

In the years following Israel’s independence, the country’s population increased exponentially with the arrival of additional Jewish immigrants and refugees from around the world. The staff and volunteers of Emunah Israel took it upon themselves to help settle the new immigrants, many of whom arrived in the country with little or no money and who were often in poor health.

Nearly 85 years later, Emunah Israel continues to uphold its original vision, said Kessel. Although today’s Israel is the Startup Nation and vastly more advanced than it was 70 years ago, there are still several pockets of society that continue to struggle. Emunah Israel strives to reach each of those pockets in their time, from offering support to at-risk children and youth, working to improve the status of women in Israeli society, managing an accessible college of arts and technology, or heavily subsidizing family counselling and therapy centers across the country.

Emunah Israel’s five children’s homes in Afula, Bnei Brak, Netanya, Even Shmuel and Pardes Hanna provide a safe and nurturing haven for Israeli children who have been removed from their homes. The youth, ages 5 to 18, come from homes in which they experienced some form of abuse, neglect or dysfunction. Round-the-clock staff provide the children with physical, emotional, educational and therapeutic support to help them achieve success and become fully functional and contributing members of Israeli society.

It is “emotional” work, said Kessel, who has been with the organization for 33 years.

“We take these children from the most abysmal situations, as traumatized and angry individuals, and then turn them into success stories,” Kessel said.

What constitutes success?Success can be measured in a variety of ways. For children who come from abusive homes, success can mean sleeping through the night without nightmares and learning to trust in other children and adults. Another marker of success for Emunah Israel children is participation in a national service program or the enlistment in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) upon graduation.

“Our army and national service recruitment is more than 90 percent,” said Kessel. “The national average is about 68 percent.”The warm environment at Emunah Israel’s children’s centers is designed to make children feel loved. Kessel quoted development psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner’s principle that “every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her,” as one of his driving principles, and one that is played out through the Emunah Israel’s work.

“When I arrived at Emunah Israel’s Sarah Herzog Children’s Center, it was the first time that I was able to call somewhere home,” Lovv said. “As a student at Emunah Israel, I received help in my education and schooling, financial support, food, clothing - everything I needed. I had been living with my grandmother, my three siblings and four other cousins in a small apartment and we didn’t have food.”

Upon completing high-school, Lovv enlisted in the Nachshon battalion in the IDF. Emunah Israel prides itself on continuing to support its students beyond highschool and continues to offer them support through their army service, post-secondary education and into their adult life.

“During the process of enlisting in the army, meetings with army personnel and all of my military ceremonies I was accompanied by Shlomo Kessel and other staff of Emunah Israel. They were with me every step of the way, supporting me in place of my parents,” said Lovv.

For the past six years, Lovv has organized a food drive leading up to Passover to ensure that the students of Emunah Israel and their families receive food for the holiday.“I gather funds from friends, friends of friends, and everyone who is interested in helping,” Lovv said. “My goal is to give back to the place I came from and to give to the children who are studying in the same school where I studied… Helping Emunah Israel is something that sits deeply in my heart.”

Kessel said being in touch with the graduates and witnessing their successes is one of the most fulfilling aspects of his job.“Someone once asked me when do we stop giving to the children under our care?” Kessel said. “I then asked him - when does he stop giving to his own children?

“At Emunah Israel, we have a responsibility to change a child’s perception of the world. We must teach these traumatized children not to fear the world and to show them that the world can be a good place.”

Eleven months ago I made Aliyah from Mexico City. When I made the decision to move to Israel, part of my family was worried but mainly proud of me.

Although I knew that I was taking a big step by myself I must admit that I thought that it would be easier. Here I have learnt to make the most of my time and have also learnt that in Israel you have to fight to achieve something.

When I first came here I needed to learn Hebrew so I attended Ulpan classes.

After that I decided I wanted to study to get a degree. For a while I couldn’t find any university that met my expectations. Thanks to a friend of mine I learnt about the Emunah Appleman College of Art and Technology in Jerusalem. I was very excited to find a place that had the curriculum of studies and the values I was looking for: professional studies of art, graphic design and education combined with Torah studies in a religious Jewish environment.

I strongly believe that it was hashgacha pratit that my friend saw the ad of the Emunah College in a newspaper because here I feel fulfilled, the staff and my classmates support me at all times and help me even if I don’t ask for assistance.

Here at the Emunah College there is mutual support between the students and the atmosphere is not competitive. We all make sure that everyone has the chance to succeed.

Emunah also provides support to its students, I received a scholarship from Emunah and it was really emotional to see how the organization cares for us, and helps us in all the ways it can.

I was very surprised to learn about all the work Emunah does around Israel. I wasn’t aware of the Emunah daycare centers, children’s homes, high schools, counselling centers and more.

I have learnt that Emunah does its best to enhance everyone’s talents and passions to get the best out of everyone so that we are able to speak out for ourselves, express our feelings and convey our message.

I thank my family for supporting me all the time Hashem for guiding me and the Emunah College for pushing me to follow my dreams and keep growing.

Sharon Steinberg, student at the Emunah Appleman College of Art and Technology, Graphic Design Department

In preparation for their upcoming final exam participants of Emunah's most recent course for Mashgichot Kashrut (female kashrut supervisors), recently completed their final practical training.

This is, of course, one of the areas of Emunah's trailblazing activities in the public sector by breaking down boundaries and empowering women in Israel. The course, initiated and promoted by Liora Minka, has been extremely successful.

90 percent of the 78 girls who finished 12th grade last year are eligible for matriculation. The national average is 66%. Since we know where many of our students started out, and what families they grew up in, this is truly a remarkable achievement of Chana Tessler and her amazing team.

National Service/Sherut Leumi is an important Israeli institution that provide thousands of young men and women the opportunity to contribute to the State and their communities even if they're not able to serve in the IDF for health, religious, social or other reasons. They do important work and are valued. As you know, in Emunah homes and schools we have more than 100 Bnot (and occasionally Bnei) Sherut who do amazing things with our unique children.

This long intro is the backdrop to an amazing achievement that we celebrated today. Eliana Schwartz from New York volunteered at our Emunah Achuzat Sarah children's home for two summers and then decided to make Aliyah in order to do Sherut Leumi at AS. Today at Beit Hanasi, Eliana was awarded the Outstanding Sherut Leumi Volunteer Award, from the State President, one of only 57 out of thousands. An amazing achievement by an amazing young person, bringing kavod to herself, her family, Emunah and of course Achuzat Sarah.